The Search For Antimatter
     AT THE DAWN OF TIME SCIENTISTS THINK THE BIG BANG CREATED ALL MATTER--AND
ITS OPPOSITE ANTIMATTER.  

(sfx: romantic music, a tango) 

OPPOSITES, OF COURSE, ATTRACT--BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE GOOD TOGETHER.  

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IN FACT, WHEN MATTER AND ANTIMATTER TOUCH, THEY SELF-DESTRUCT AND EXPLODE. 

(Sfx: explosion)

WE DON'T SEE ALL THOSE FIREWORKS BECAUSE IN OUR PART OF THE UNIVERSE THINGS ARE
MADE ONLY OF MATTER.  BUT SCIENTISTS DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE
ANTIMATTER.  STEVE AHLEN WANTS TO FIND OUT.

     Ahlen: "We know for example the earth doesn't have big chunks of antimatter
laying around because. . . we don't see any unexplainable big explosions on the earth. .
. but nothing is known regarding things outside of our own galaxy."

     AHLEN IS AN ASTROPHYSICS AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY.  HE'S ONE OF SEVERAL
SCIENTISTS WORKING WITH NASA TO BUILD A MACHINE THEY'VE NAMED AN ANTIMATTER
SPECTROMETER OR AMS FOR SHORT.  THE AMS IS A 4000 POUND SUPERCONDUCTING
MAGNET THAT WILL BE SENT UP ON THE SPACE STATION IN THE YEAR 2000.  THE IDEA IS THAT
STRAY PARTICLES FROM AN ANTI-GALAXY MIGHT MAKE IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH SPACE
TO OUR MATTER GALAXY.  AS THESE COSMIC PARTICLES PASS BY THE AMS, THE MAGNETIC
FIELD WILL PULL THEM OFF COURSE. 

     Ahlen: "You can determine which way the particle bends, it bends one way it's a
particle, if it bends the other way its an antiparticle."

     IF THERE ARE ANTIGALAXIES OUT THERE, SCIENTISTS WILL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW
THE MATTER AND ANTIMATTER SEPARATED AFTER THE BIG BANG INSTEAD OF SELF-DESTRUCTING.